So before I get to my new favorite place in the world, I would like to share a ship event. As you may have noticed, we spent the 4th of July, not in the USA. Needless to say, there was no pomp and circumstance, no fireworks, no bbqs. I spent the 4th in Sorrento and while it was nice, not like spending the 4th at home in the USA. Plus July 4th is my mom’s birthday and she usually insists that we have bbq in honor of her birth (and the country’s independence J). The ship crew is so amazing; they served bbq on July 5th on the night we all got back on the ship. The bbq started at 530pm, people started lining up at 4. It is so funny how meaningful the reminders of home can be when you are far away…
Another interesting thing I forgot to mention in the last post, we ran into a group of black women in Sorrento. They were in Italy on a college trip. They were so excited to see other black people that one of the girls hugged Chela. Unsolicited and unannounced she embraced a perfect stranger. It was amusing but also understandable. As you traveled through Italy, there were very few black faces. Now don’t get me wrong these countries have deep-seated racism and xenophobia but many of the divisions are between ethnic groups. So to most outsiders, it looks like one white group hating another white group. The differences between the various ethnic communities are not as physically visible as the white black dichotomy that exists in our country. I think I wrote in a previous post that many of the faces, which look like mine, belong to African immigrants. Countries in Europe, like the USA has seen an increase in immigration from neighbors to the South. Much of this is due to economic opportunities and the fact that the European labor force cannot sustain itself. However unlike the US, many of these countries have had a homogenous population for centuries. They are not used to dealing with issues of difference in their public policies. So imagine every ugly thing that you have heard about immigrants in the US, then double it and you have the situation in many European countries. To aggravate matters more interesting, many of these immigrant groups do not have access to rights that we take for granted in the US. For instance, we met a young woman in Greece, she was born and raised in Greece, did all her schooling in Greece and by most cultural and societal standards is Greek. Except her parents were born in Sierra Leone. She does not hold a Greek passport and is not entitled to the full rights of a Greek citizen. It gives you pause…but I digress this post is about Dubrovnik…one final word: As a person of color wandering about these countries, I am always on heightened awareness. Whether or not it is warranted I don’t know but when you see so few people who look like you, it makes you wonder…ok, DUBROVNIK!
I had ZERO expectations about Croatia. When I saw it on the itinerary, I thought, oh that should be an interesting rest stop as we navigate to the more interesting ports of Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco. Boy was I wrong! We arrived in port at night, so I could not take in the city. When the sun rose, I took it all in and was more than amazing. Dubrovnik is beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, paradise-like. I cannot come up with enough words to describe it. The water was the purest blue, the sky gorgeous and I sat in awe of its beauty. Several times during my time in this port, I just had to stop and reflect on the beauty that surrounded me. I don’t think my picture does it justice. Particularly after leaving the dirty, busy, bustle of Naples, Dubrovnik was like a breath of fresh air. Our interport student called it the Pearl of the Adriatic and she was not lying. Ok, enough superlatives!
The first day in port, I set off by myself to explore the Old City. It’s such a charming little town that traveling by yourself presents no major challenges. In fact, in Dubrovnik, I did not even wear my money belt. That is how safe I felt. Anyway Dubrovnik has an Old City which is completely enclosed by a set of walls. These walls served as defense fortifications during days of old. They serve no functional defense purpose today but are still a wonder to observe. I wandered about the old city and took in the city. It is high tourist season in Dubrovnik so the city was jam-packed. There were miles and miles of stores. The Croatian currency is the Kuna. Yes, it is as fun to say, as it is to spell. I have to admit that in Dubrovnik, I spent my Kuna liberally. I think my desire to spend is directly connected to my love of the place. As I loved Dubrovnik a lot, I spent A LOT. In one afternoon I bought 3 dresses and two bags. Everyone knows that I do not lack dresses or bags in my wardrobe but I just could not resist. The prices were not any better than they were in Spain or Italy; I just liked this place better.
So before my shopping spree, I ran into a group of 4 students. These four students are some of the international students on the ship. International students are one of the populations that I am responsible for in my position responsibilities but had not made any real inroads with as of yet. They invited and I accepted to spend the afternoon with them. We wandered through the town a little bit. We tried the traditional Croatian brandy. Before we got off the ship, everyone encouraged us to try the brandy. They swore it would be delicious and definitely an experience not to be missed. They were right on one of those assertions. It definitely was an experience. That brandy burned a path down my chest that nearly bought me to tears. It was just a sample to taste and I felt it. Hard. So after our alcohol adventure, we decided to walk the city walls. Walking the walls is THE thing to do when visiting Dubrovnik. Its sort of like climbing the Great Wall of China---but less so. So we embarked on the wall. Like many of the outdoor sites, there was no shade to be found on the wall. No shade at all. So it was hot. But the views from the wall are so inspiring that you don’t want to rush the process. I took so many pictures from the wall. You get amazing aerial view of everything. The students I was with have a tradition of taking jumping pictures. They did not let the fact that we were on a massive wall curb their jumping affection. They took several jumping pictures, which almost made my heart jump. But they were having so much fun; I could not really fault them. The wall took 1-1.5 hours to complete. It was great fun.
Dubrovnik was preparing for the Summer Festival when we arrived so the city was alive with activity. On that first day, John McEnroe was playing a charity tennis match in the town square. A ticket costs 200 USD. Needless to say, I found other diversions. But there was a festive energy in the air, which heightened our enjoyment of the city.
During the first day, I signed up for an all day excursion with the students out to some of the surrounding areas of Croatia, away from Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is beautiful but pales in comparison to its countryside. We first visited the town of Ston. Ston is a very teeny, tiny town but it was one of the first towns to be built according to a definite urban plan, Ston is enclosed by a wall, measuring 5km. that makes it the 3rd most extensive wall in the world- not bad for a little town in Croatia rightJ it was impressive to see the wall but it was much too extensive to hike in the short period we were in the area. Ston is also home to salt fields. After Ston we set off for the island of Korcula. Korcula according to legend is the birthplace of Marco Polo but I don’t think they need him as their claim to fame. The island can compete with any place on earth on sheer beauty alone. I don’t want to overwhelm you with words. Take my word for it, its gorgeous. In Korcula, we walked around the town and took in the sights, sounds and flavor of the place. It was pleasing! All of these sites were with a guided tour so a great deal was learned in the process. I think the most fascinating thing I learned on this trip was the genius behind the shape and structure of the city design in Korcula. When walking down the main street in town to the left you could always see the sea but to the right you could only see buildings. No sight of the sea. It is an island, you should be able to see the ocean at most every point, right? Nope, wrong! The buildings were intentionally built to capture the breeze off the ocean but to keep out the storm winds. The bad stormy winds are called Bora and are not a positive element---they are not something you wanted to stick around. What an ingenious design! I am certain that other civilizations may have similar architectural designs to protect their homes from the elements. It seems the more “advanced” we become, the more we learn that the old folks had it right the first time around.
After Korcula, we headed back towards Dubrovnik. Before making it back though we stopped in at a local vineyard. We had a great wine tasting, while getting a lesson on grape growing methods in Croatia. We tried a variety of wines. The tasting was organized so that in each tasting you would get a higher alcohol content. So the first glass had 12% alcohol followed by a 14% glass. The next two glasses were in the 20% range. The final glass they offered is known by many names such as firewater, moonshine, etc. The actual name is grappa and it contains 42% alcohol. I think the brandy I mentioned earlier and this liquor live in the same family. It was so funny the higher the alcohol content the more talkative the group became. It was a fun experience. You obviously do not leave a wine tasting drunk by any means but it is a pleasant way to end a long day. I have always wanted to go to a wine tasting back home and haven’t had the chance. Its funny that I would have such a desire fulfilled in Croatia. The experience reaffirmed my desire to go to visit vineyards in the States.
Day 3 in Croatia, I left the country. Dubrovnik was the only port in which we were allowed to leave the country. I figured I should take the opportunity (no passport stampL)! So off I went to Montenegro. We visited two towns in Montenegro, Kotor and Budva. The tours and descriptions of both of those places were very rushed and I cannot say with any legitimacy that I learned anything new about Montenegro during this trip. The ride between Dubrovnik and Montenegro is only supposed to be one hour but the wait at the border crossing was excessively long. As a result we lost a lot of time, just hanging out on the bus. It made my excursion into another country less than ideal but hey what can you do. The drive was beautiful and Montenegro is as the guide books say, “a breathtaking image of mountains plunging directly into the sea” in some places. Other than observing the physical beauty of the parts of the country we did get to see, I don’t really have much to reflect on here. One of the cool things that happened on this trip is on the way back we took a ferryboat. By we I mean, me, 150 of my closest SAS friends and our coach buses all on a ferry. I know these exist car ferries exist in the States and in other parts of the world but I had not ever been on one before so that was a new and enjoyable experience.
Later that evening the opening ceremonies of the Summer Festival was being held in Dubrovnik. The festivities would include speeches by the officials, a concert and fireworks. Plus EVERYONE entered the old city gates to be in the town. Thousands and thousands of people were milling about. When something like that is going on when you are traveling, you must be there! So Chela and I were off to take it all in. We did not know this but the public transportation was completely free that night. We made the mistake of buying tickets for the bus but oh well! I consider it a contribution to the economic well being of Dubrovnik. The buses were crowded. The Old City was crowded. You could barely move without bumping into the people next to you. For claustrophobe such as me, it’s a shock to the system, but hey you get over it! We wandered about and soon realized that part of the fun is just being there and people watching. We found a “quiet” out of the way spot to have a snack, watch the fireworks and most importantly people watch. We got pizza—there are lots of Italian influences in CroatiaJ. There were so many women out and about in spiky, mile high heels. While this may not be an issue in most circumstances, I forgot to mention that Dubrovnik is all marble and cobblestone. In addition many of the places (restaurants, shops, etc.) are at the top of these very steep, very high stairs. So watching women trying to navigate the unsteady terrain in their tiny outfits (and there were many tiny outfits) and spiky heels was quite an activity. There is not a pair of shoes or outfit worth twisting my ankle---sometimes these things are simply not practical. Hashanah. As I type this I must laugh because Ivet and I have had so many conversations about practical shoes. I never thought I would be an advocate. Oh how we change in our old age. The fireworks were nice. The meal was great and it was fun. It was clear that most people intended to be out and about until sunrise. I had a trip early in the morning so headed back to the ship shortly after the fireworks.
The final day in Dubrovnik found me leaving the country once again. We had the opportunity to visit Medugorje, which is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meugorje is the site of a sighting of the Virgin Mary by a group of young people. It is a big deal for Catholics. I’m not Catholic, why would I go? Well I thought it might be interesting and I would get another stamp on my passport. Boy was I disappointed. There was absolutely nothing of interest there for me. I had no interest in attending mass, seeing the site of the Virgin Mary sighting, and the town was tiny. Super tiny. I walked through it in 10 minutes. I was taking my time, looked through every shop 3 times. However most of the shops sold exclusively Catholic religion related things. I spent most of my time trying to find a magnet that did not have an image of the Virgin Mother on it. It was a nearly impossible task. I did manage to find one though. Plus they did not stamp our passports, coming in or leaving the country. I wont go so far as to say the day was a waste but I think there were more fruitful ways I could have spent my last day in Dubrovnik. Oh well, you leave and you learn. Major lesson learned—read the description for the trip and believe what they say.
That’s it for Dubrovnik!
A lovely little townJ I will for sure return. So I don’t say goodbye to Croatia, I say see you later!!
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